The International Criminal Court in The Hague rejected on Tuesday the request of chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to probe suspected war crimes committed by Israel in the West Bank.
The court turned down the request – for now – because it was too long and exceeded the amount of pages allowed for filing. The court said Bensouda could file a new request if she meets the required conditions. The judges have 120 days to rule after they receive the new request.
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Bensouda said last month that there was a "reasonable basis" to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip as well as Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. She has asked the court to determine whether she has territorial jurisdiction before proceeding with the case.
Israel, which is not a member of the ICC, has said the court has no jurisdiction and accused Bensouda of being driven by anti-Semitism.
Palestinian entities cannot initiate any proceedings in the ICC because that can only be done by sovereign states, the court also reiterated.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, has called on the world to take "concrete actions" against the ICC ahead of the possible war-crimes case against Israel.
In an interview with the Christian network TBN aired on Tuesday, Netanyahu praised US President Donald Trump for criticizing the ICC and called on others to follow suit.
"I think that everybody should rise up against this," he said, according to excerpts released by his office. "I urge all your viewers to do the same and to ask for concrete actions, sanctions against the international court, its officials, its prosecutors, everyone."
"They're basically in a full-frontal attack on the democracies, both on the democracies' right to defend themselves, and on Israel's right, the Jewish people's right, to live in their ancestral homeland, the Land of Israel," he said.
There was no immediate reaction from Bensouda. But in a recent interview, she told the Israeli news site Times of Israel that accusing her of anti-Semitism was "particularly regrettable" and "without merit."
The court said in a statement that it and its officials "will continue to do their work in accordance with the mandate bestowed upon them" in accordance with the principle of the rule of law.
The TBN interview came ahead of a gathering in Jerusalem on Thursday where dozens of world leaders are to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazis' Auschwitz death camp and to speak out against anti-Semitism.
Netanyahu is expected to use the gathering to try to rally international opposition to the ICC case against Israel.
At the United Nations, Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour accused Israel on Tuesday of trampling on the UN Charter, UN resolutions "and any and all relevant provisions of international law."
"Like common war criminals, even the specter of an ICC investigation hasn't deterred Israeli government officials and military commanders, who continue to blatantly challenge the Security Council and international community as a whole," he told the UN Security Council.
Mansour stressed that there is "an urgent, shared responsibility and obligation for the Security Council, General Assembly, ICC and all states" to uphold the rule of law.
